The Walnut Cove Police Department was told in 1997 about allegations of sexual abuse involving a part-time police officer, a sheriff's official said this week.
That officer, Michael Mabe, also worked as an auxiliary deputy for the Stokes County Sheriff's Office.
Capt. Craig Carico said that when the sheriff's office learned about the allegations against Mabe in late 1997, it fired him in early 1998, after he had worked as a deputy for about two months.
The sheriff's office also told the Walnut Cove Police Department about the allegations, Carico said.
But Mabe, 51, of 1247 Hanging Rock Road in Danbury, continued to work for the police department until last month, when he resigned Dec. 21 after being charged with 15 counts of taking indecent liberties with a child. According to charging documents, the incidents involving the girl are alleged to have occurred from June 1, 1987, to Dec. 31, 1989.
The sheriff's office began investigating Mabe after it received a report on Dec. 11 about the alleged abuse from a member of the victim's family.
"This is a criminal investigation," Carico said. "We are not trying to get into a mud-ball fight with someone else."
The family member had initially reported the allegation to the Stokes County Department of Social Services in April 1990.
No charges were filed against Mabe at that time, Carico said. Investigators are trying to find out more about how the initial report of the alleged abuse was handled.
Janice Spencer, the director of the Stokes social-services department, declined to comment Thursday on the case.
Mabe was hired by Walnut Cove police on April 11, 1996, when Barry Conaway was the police chief.
Conaway did not return calls for comment. Conaway was fired as police chief in January 2008, said Homer Dearmin, Walnut Cove's town manager.
The allegations against Mabe were not a factor in Conaway's firing, Dearmin said, adding that the town should have investigated the allegations against Mabe when it learned about them in 1997.
"It is a sensitive matter," Dearmin said. "We are doing everything we can to cooperate with the investigation."
Dearmin said that the town's board of commissioners may hold a closed session to discuss Mabe at its meeting Tuesday in Walnut Cove.
Some town officials said that Mabe should have resigned from the police department in 1997.
Town officials should have talked to Mabe, "and he should have gracefully resigned," said Charles Mitchell, a town commissioner.
"Nobody is above the law."
Mitchell said that Conaway should have taken action against Mabe when Conaway learned about the allegations about Mabe.
Mitchell didn't specify what that action should have been.
"Barry is a good man," Mitchell said. "He should have done something about it. It's a shame."
Mabe was released from the Stokes County Jail on a bond of $25,000.
He is scheduled to appear in court on Jan. 20.
jhinton@wsjournal.com
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